Hacker News Reader

I suspect that the author characterized the therapist's physical description in that particular way because it was relevant to the opening scene: the man's come on line was to define his 'PTSD' as 'post traumatic sex disorder'.

The therapist's physical appearance and gender add explanatory context for her ability to predict the man's inappropriate behavior. And suggest why she was the target of the man's inappropriate behavior in the first place.

View on HN

I think "sexy librarian" speaks volumes about American gender and social roles: In order to understand the phrase you first have to assume librarians are mostly female and aren't, on the whole, sexy. Then you need to understand what a librarian is assumed to be - probably someone who's interested in "smart stuff" in general, but not a specific field, and not in an outwardly focused way like a professor or a scientist or an engineer. Then you need to imagine the appropriate age for this creature - not a young 20-something girl, and not 50 years old (like some of us). Nay, though she's a ripe, ripe blossom, she's been protected and kept clean (but perhaps a little dusty) until now by her love for books, her yester-decade choice of apparel, and those ubiquitous wide-lensed spectacles. Yes, she's been waiting for you all these years. In the stacks.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com